Luke's Letter
by sistaofpeace1
Summary: A letter from Luke to Tear before the final battle. Pairings: LukexTear.


Alright, here's another one-shot, LukexTear fic that I wrote quite a while back. Comments and criticism welcome. :)

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Rem Redecan, 2019

To Tear,

By the time you get to read this, I may not be here anymore. But I felt like this was something I had to do, for everything you had done for me, even though I'm sure whatever I manage to do won't ever be enough.

You're probably wondering when I got the chance to write this. Well, remember when Jade suggested we go back to search for the Planetary Fonic Arte after we found the last catalyst in Hod? Well, after we came back from Mt. Roneal and decided to stay at Grand Chokmah for the night, I found myself not being able to sleep again, and, well, here I am. I realized there's so many things I still want to tell you and I feel like I really need to get this off my chest so that hopefully I don't have any regrets before I die.

I guess a lot has already happened since the last time we really "talked." I'm still trying to grasp the fact that Asch is actually _gone_...I know we were never the best of buddies, but Asch was a large reason why I was finally able to accept myself for who I was. But you know, I also realized something rather weird. For some reason, I'm not upset that I wasn't the one that died instead of him. Don't get me wrong, I know I'll really miss him – well, for the amount of time I have left, anyway – and I feel even worse for Natalia...but if Asch had died anytime earlier in our travels together, I think I would have been even more depressed that my original had to die and not me. But now, I find myself being glad that I'm still alive for whatever time I still have left. I don't know if I'm explaining this well, but I hope you get what I mean.

But before I go on, could I ask one last favor from you? If you don't want to do this, I'll understand, because I know you've done a lot for me already. But I didn't really get a chance to tell everyone else how much they really mean to me, and it's because of all of you that I've been able to get to where I was. If I had the time, I could have probably written a letter for all of them, but since I don't, if you could pass on these messages to them, it would really mean a lot to me.

Okay well, if you're fine with this, I guess I'll go with Jade first. Well, out of everyone in our little "group," I thought he was the last person I could ever get along with, but he ended up helping me a lot more than I thought he would. Despite his constant jokes and all, I know he's actually really nice and is just looking after us because he cares. Even though he straight out said that I should be the one to give up my life at the Tower of Rem instead of Asch, he only said it because he thought it was the rational thing to do at the time. But after he found out about my condition, he still looked after me whenever he got the chance. So yeah, if you can, just let him know. Heh, I know he'll probably make some sort of joke out of all this...well, that's Jade for you, I guess.

Next is for Anise. Oh man, for a little girl like her, she sure is tough, I tell you. I don't know how she manages to stay so cheerful after everything that's happened, especially after Ion died…she really is mature. Though I bet if she heard me say that, she might ask me to propose to her again...err, I guess it may be better to leave that last part out.

Then there's Guy. Wow, if it weren't for him, I don't think I would have had the courage to face everyone after I came back to the Outer Lands. I still remember when he said I was still his friend despite not being the real "Luke." That just really meant a lot to me, even though he really didn't have to say it. And I still can't believe he was able to restrain himself so much after being affected by the curse-slot. I really don't think anyone can ask for anything more from a best friend, and for that, I'm really grateful.

I guess there's still Natalia. She's really been through a lot on this journey, huh? Finding out that she wasn't a real princess, finding out who her true father was, then later having to kill him, and now, she has to cope with Asch's death. But for some reason, I think she'll be fine. Like Jade said, no one is born a princess, but it takes someone very strong-willed to deserve that title. And Natalia is exactly the kind of princess Kimlasca needs right now.

And then finally, there's Mieu. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm going to miss the little guy. He always stayed beside me even though I was the one who treated him the worst, but he probably ended up becoming one of my most trusted buddies, as much as I would probably never admit it to him. Thanks, Mieu.

I guess that's everyone then, huh? Well, I'm not done yet. There's still a lot of things I need to tell you, too.

I know we talked for a bit – well, maybe a lot – when Noelle took us out to sea on the Albiore. And I don't know if you noticed, but I was holding back on a lot of things because, well, I don't want you to go through more than what you're already being forced to do. But after that night and everything that's already happened, maybe if I say this now, it will help me put some things to rest. I don't want to make this sound too complicated, but I don't think I can say this straight out, either. I guess I'll just write whatever comes to mind and hope it somehow makes some sense.

Well, when I first met you, I didn't know what to think. So many things had happened at once, and being the stubborn brat I was at the time, I didn't think much of what you were trying to do and only cared about myself. And it was always Master Van this, Master Van that. It just got worse and worse, and well, you saw what happened at Akzeriuth and Yulia City. I just got really down in the dumps after that.

I know this is going to sound really cheesy, but thanks to you, I finally realized that I couldn't just let everything get to me. Even when I tried to push you away, you were always there when I needed some sense smacked back into me. There were a lot of things that you helped me overcome, and for all that, I really can't thank you enough.

I don't think I ever told you this, but remember when you wrote me that letter right after we defeated Master Van at Absorption Gate? Well I'll be honest, it wasn't the kind of letter I was expecting, but to actually get a letter from you was probably the best thing that had ever happened to me during that whole month. Well, I had only gotten to read it right before I saw you again, but that's not the point. I know Guy and Anise wrote letters to me too, but it was just knowing that you still cared enough to write me a letter just really meant a lot to me at that moment.

Then when we had to deal with the miasma, I just never felt so scared in my life. I knew that we had to get rid of the miasma somehow, and that there was only one way to do it, but I couldn't get myself to accept that fate so easily like I did back when I cut my hair. But when I got a chance to talk to you in the Daath library, you somehow gave me the confidence I needed to pull off what I needed to do.

And then there I was, at the top of the tower, feeling my very existence seep out from me as I was trying to pull in my hyperresonance.

I think it was at that moment, when I was literally _screaming_ inside, that your face appeared in front of me. I knew right then how much I just wanted to _live_. It wasn't about how much of a past I had compared to everyone else, or the fact that I wasn't even born a normal human. It was realizing how much everyone meant so much to me on my journey and just _wanting_ to be with everyone. After everything that happened, that was all I needed to finally know that I simply _wanted_ to live.

But then, well, I don't have to explain again what the doctor said was happening to me. I hope you're not hurt by the fact that I wanted to keep it a secret. I just didn't want to worry anyone, especially not you. Though I'll admit, being able to talk about it with someone made me feel a little better inside.

And then, well, I guess I'm back to where I started. Here goes…

Well Tear, I guess what I wanted to say was that being with you on the Albiore that night made me understand what it was that I was looking for this whole time. And it also made me realize how happy I was whenever you were with me. I wanted that moment to last forever, by the sea and under the moonlit sky, just the two of us…

But we have to keep going. And of course, it's not just about me. Because I know you suffered a lot too. It must have been painful for you when Legretta had to die, and soon we're going to fight Master Van. As much as I don't want to fight him, it's now or never. So I hope you can still hang in there. I'll do everything I can to support you till the end.

I know I'm not going to have any more chances again after this, but I just wanted to thank you for everything you've ever done for me. I'm really glad to have met you, and it's mostly thanks to you that I was able to get to where I am now. I don't know where I'll be when you read this, Tear, but if I could have just one wish…

…I just want to be with you again.

-Luke


End file.
